Eyes
by Redios
Summary: They taught her that not all eyes were evil. Oneshot, Raven-centric. BBRae near the end.


Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

**Eyes**

By Redios

* * *

Somewhere in a distant land, pale-skinned children were playing a simple game of catch. They laughed as the soft rubber ball flew through the air, as it bounced off of a boy's head, as it rolled into a nearby alleyway. They were having fun. Their lively chatter mingled with the chirping of songbirds and the rustling of leaves.

A new voice was heard. "Toss it to me!"

They turned towards the newcomer, happy to oblige. Such is the innocent camaraderie of childhood.

They halted as they saw whom it was who was joining them.

She was a small girl with short purple hair. In the middle of her forehead gleamed a blood-red diamond.

The children didn't know the girl's name, but they knew who she was. She was _that_ girl. The one with whom they could never be friends, the one whom they could not even so much as talk to. The daughter of a demon. _Her_.

The effect was immediate. The children's eyes unintentionally darkened and their smiles vanished, turning what had been cheerful grins into horrifying grimaces. They abruptly started to back away from the girl, then turned and quickly ran away, leaving her alone.

This girl, a young Raven, returned home, dejected and lonely. Although she walked through several of the largest streets of the city, she didn't meet a single person. The streets were deserted. She trudged on, not noticing that behind her, closed shutters and locked doors opened and citizens stepped out into the street to scowl at her.

Arella, her mother, was waiting for her in the doorway of their simple house. She swiftly beckoned Raven to come inside. The streets weren't safe. Arella only allowed her daughter outside a few times each day, and even that was risky.

Still, she had to keep Raven happy. Or else… she shuddered at what she knew could happen if ever her daughter lost control. Even at a young age, when her powers were supposedly not yet fully developed, Raven had occasionally thrown tantrums that had ended in considerable material destruction.

By now, Raven was sobbing, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "Why? Why, Mother!? Why do they not wish to play with me? Why do they look at me like that? Why are they… afraid of me?"

"Shh… it's all right, Raven…" replied Arella in a soothing voice, ignoring the tiny tendrils of dark energy that had begun to form around Raven's hands. She produced a handkerchief and tried in vain to dry her daughter's face. "You just need sleep, my daughter… that's right, sleep."

But Raven continued to cry late into the night.

Eventually she drifted into a fitful sleep ridden with nightmares about the children and the townspeople. They told her she wasn't wanted. They screamed at her to get away from them. They glared at her.

With _those_ eyes.

When Raven was a child, eyes symbolized fear.

* * *

_SOUTH JUMP CITY – Three gunmen, each of whom wielded two pistols, entered a bank on Wednesday and ordered tellers to hand over money, threatening to shoot if they disobeyed. Fearing for their lives, the tellers gave the men approximately one hundred thousand dollars in straight cash._

_The men were about to leave when a strange incident occurred. According to one teller, "the men were punched hard with a sort of… blackness. I don't know how else to describe it. Their guns suddenly lifted into the air on their own, and the next thing I knew, they were on the floor, knocked out cold. I immediately called the police after that."_

_This is not the first time that this "blackness" (as it has come to be called by some) has saved lives in the nick of time. Just a few weeks ago, in July, there was almost an accident involving the scaffolding surrounding City Hall while it was being repainted. A misplaced support pole tottered and bent, immediately endangering the lives of dozens of workers. Just as collapse and disaster seemed imminent, however, bystanders witnessed the same "blackness" bend the pole back into shape, saving the structure as well as the workers on it._

_Does Jump City have its own guardian angel? Perhaps, but for now, people are just happy about the lives being saved. When asked just exactly how many people the "blackness" saved in the bank, a teller replied, "There was just me and the other four guys… oh, and there was this creepy Goth chick who sometimes hangs out outside." Chuckling, he continues, "But she wouldn't have anything to do with this!"_

_The girl could not be contacted for comment._

_In any case, everybody looks forward to where the "blackness" will appear next. The police are especially excited. "About time we got some help around here," comments one officer._

_On the contrary, villains now have yet another thing to think about when planning their crimes. This "blackness" puts them in a tough position. As he dazedly clambered into the police car, one of the bank thieves was heard to say, "Whatever witch is doing this, next time I'll—"_

Raven tossed the newspaper into a nearby dumpster. She had read enough.

She didn't know why she helped others. Was it because she had nothing else to do? Maybe. Was it because she, having experienced so much suffering herself, felt that others shouldn't have to go through what she did? Perhaps. Was it because she wanted in some vague way to prove to herself that she _wasn't_ born for evil, that she _could_ do good? It's possible. Whatever the reason, Raven watched over the citizens of Jump City from the shadows.

She never revealed her face. How could she? _People only think of me as a "creepy Goth witch,"_ she would think bitterly to herself. Knowing that she was the one behind the heroic "blackness" wouldn't change that. Even if it would, she didn't ever want to find out.

She had had the leotard and cloak custom-made for her by a little-known tailor; she had given a false name so that she couldn't be traced. She never put her hood down when she was among people. She was noticed but not recognized. Never recognized. She avoided eye contact with others whenever possible, for fear that they would catch a glimpse of _him_.

Besides her clothing, the only other possession she could call her own was her library card. Whenever she found herself with nothing to do, which was often, she would read. She immersed herself in weighty tomes and books of all kinds. Oddly enough, she found that her favorite novels were romances, although that was a secret she'd take to the grave. She found that when she read, she could, if only momentarily, forget about _him_.

_He_ would occasionally enter her dreams, as if reminding her of whom she was and what she was destined to become. Too often, she would forgo sleep in order to avoid confronting him. She felt as if he were watching her every move, monitoring her every action. She tried so hard to withstand his influence, yet with nothing or nobody to support her, she felt it grow stronger each day.

As she walked past one of the many high-rises in the city, Raven turned her head slightly and looked into the smooth reflective glass of the window.

It was one of those windows that allows those inside the building to see those outside, but not vice-versa. Raven saw that she was staring at herself.

For a moment so brief that she almost wasn't sure if it had happened at all, she saw it. She saw them.

Four red slits.

_His_ eyes.

Gasping, she forced herself to look away, at that taxi, at that billboard, at anything but her reflection. Against her own will, however, she slowly turned back to the window.

Purple. Sweet, soothing purple. She sighed in relief. Realizing that her hands had suddenly become clammy despite the pleasantly warm weather, she wrapped her cloak tighter around herself and walked away from the building.

When Raven was alone on Earth, eyes symbolized hatred.

* * *

"Sooo Raven… what's the occasion?" Robin asked. The Titans often went out for pizza, but this time, it had been Raven who had suggested it. Robin thought that something as rare as this definitely justified an explanation.

"Nothing. We're friends, so why shouldn't we have pizza together?" Raven replied dryly.

At this, Cyborg and Beast Boy stopped fighting over what type of pizza to order – the Mega Mighty Meat special (including fresh venison!), or the Veggie Delite (now with edamame beans!) – and looked at Raven.

"He's just wonderin' why you were the one to offer. That doesn't happen very often, you have to admit," Cyborg pointed out.

"Well, I—"

But Beast Boy was far ahead of her. Suddenly sporting a brown plaid overcoat and a matching cap with ear flaps, he peered at Raven through squinted eyes. "I say, my dear Jetson, there's something wrong with Raven here. _Raven_, wanting pizza? Absurd!"

Raven rolled her eyes. With a mere thought, she willed black energy to suddenly strip Beast Boy of his ridiculous getup. "First of all, there's nothing wrong with me; second, that's a horrible accent; third, it's 'Watson,' Sherlock."

"Friends, Raven does not need a reason to invite us out for the night of pizza! She is merely being a good friend," Starfire said, flashing Raven a kind smile. She giggled and help up a bottle of mustard. "Now, shall we order?"

Before Beast Boy and Cyborg could say another word in support of their preferred pizza topping, Raven flagged down a waiter. "One Mega Mighty Meat special and one Veggie Delite, please," she told him. He nodded and walked off, leaving four of the five teens seated around the table stunned silent.

"Friend Raven, that was…"

"…Nice," Robin finished.

"Dude... you're the best, Rae!" Beast Boy leapt from his seat and hugged her briefly, quickly releasing his grip and retreating before she could react.

"…Do that again, Beast Boy, and you're in for it," said Raven, although it didn't come out as much of a threat, given that she found for some reason that it was difficult to look Beast Boy in the eyes.

"Aw, ain't that cute," said Cyborg, grinning.

Beast Boy blushed slightly. "You know what I mean. Best in that ordering-your-favorite-kind-of-pizza-that-nobody-else-likes kinda way, you know?"

But Cyborg wasn't convinced. "Sure, sure, whatever ya say BB."

Beast Boy had no reply to that, and just grinned nervously at Raven.

Raven couldn't help but smile a little herself as she ate pizza with her friends.

They had come into her life at just the right time. She hadn't slept for a week, and she hadn't used her powers much, afraid that _he_ might cause something to happen. Worst of all, she couldn't so much as look in a mirror without seeing _his_ eyes. She knew she was hallucinating, but at the same time, she knew that what she was seeing was real. It was there. His presence was becoming unbearable.

Then she met them.

An overly determined mask-wearing karate expert with a knack for leadership and obstinacy; a beautiful alien princess whose slender physique belied her strength; a cyborg who boasted not only supreme physical power but also an astounding mental aptitude; a green changeling with bad body odor, an even worse sense of humor, and worst of all, the unique ability to get under her skin (and not as an amoeba; Raven shuddered to think what would happen to her if he ever managed to pull that off).

They had immediately changed her life. Perhaps it was because they too were peculiar and different from "normal" people – they didn't fit in. Raven didn't care. These four individuals accepted her, and she welcomed them in as well, albeit hesitantly. In recognizing that they could never identify with "normal" people, they identified with each other. They were similar in that they were different. They were the Teen Titans.

They were her first friends, but friends were all she needed. They lifted her up out of the abyss she had fallen into; they were four cornerstones that allowed her to stand up for the first time in her life and firmly face _him_, her father.

They taught her that not all eyes were evil. It was with them that she finally gathered the courage to take off her hood and allow them to see her eyes as she saw theirs. In Robin's she saw courage and determination. In Starfire's she saw joy and curiosity. In Cyborg's she saw companionship and sincerity. In Beast Boy's… she wasn't quite sure what she saw in Beast Boy's eyes. The changeling was surprisingly adept at concealing his true feelings, whatever they might be.

She recalled one of Robin's motivational teamwork speeches in which he had told them that there were no "I's" in "team." She had quickly found the homonym, however, and she told herself that there were eyes in the team, and good ones, too.

Although she occasionally stumbled into altercations with them, Raven knew that these four people were her true friends. She had been worried that they, like all others before them, would spurn her when they discovered her history and ancestry. She was wrong, and she loved them for it.

The least she could do was take them out for pizza every now and then.

Robin and Starfire blushed simultaneously when their hands came into contact as they both reached for the same slice of pizza. They quickly apologized to each other, then laughed gently at the silliness of it all. Cyborg downed three pieces of pizza at once, drained an entire can of soda in one swig, and then burped loudly, causing Beast Boy's hair to gather itself on one side of his head in a sort of bizarre perm. Beast Boy merely ate his pizza, unaware of his new hairstyle, crunching loudly on the edamame beans as if they were the best things in the world. From time to time, he turned and grinned at Raven.

As for Raven herself, she quietly observed her friends. She smiled.

When Raven was a Teen Titan, eyes symbolized acceptance and friendship.

* * *

"Raven, hurry up!"

"One minute, Beast Boy."

"But you'll miss it!"

"They say patience is a virtue. You aren't being very virtuous right now."

"…I'll be waiting."

Raven sighed. Even after all these years, even after all they'd been through together, he still managed to annoy her. Weren't normal men supposed to be _considerate_ of their girlfriends?

Then again, hardly anything about their relationship was normal.

She hated the term "girlfriend," but she did acknowledge that she was in a _romantic relationship_ with Beast Boy. She didn't know how it had happened. Neither did the others. A timid question, a hesitant affirmation, a brief outing, a cracked lightbulb or two, and blushes all around. Raven wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing that their first date could be reduced to a single sentence.

Nevertheless, she had no regrets. She was happy, and she knew that Beast Boy cared for her immensely. It thrilled her that she could be so special to one person, although she did her best to limit physical contact to hugs and cuddling, particularly in the company of her other teammates. Beast Boy was surprisingly docile on the matter, despite the fact that (much to her annoyance and slight enjoyment) he liked to steal an occasional kiss from her.

When Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin had learned that she and Beast Boy were officially in a relationship, they had reacted exactly as she had predicted they would.

Cyborg had clapped Beast Boy on the back so many times that he claimed to have a spinal cord injury and thus needed immediate healing, but she had correctly interpreted the plea as merely a ruse to get her to touch him.

Starfire had nearly broken _her_ spinal cord with her hugs, and had somehow managed to smuggle various cosmetics and other beauty accessories into her room when she wasn't looking.

And Robin had, of course, questioned the safety and practicality of such an arrangement. She had pointed out that he and Starfire managed a relationship just fine, and so there was no reason why she and Beast Boy couldn't. She had told him that with Trigon's influence negligible, there was no reason why it wouldn't be safe. In the end, Robin had given his consent because he viewed it as a method of improvement for Beast Boy.

And Beast Boy did indeed improve. He learned to recognize when she needed her space. He performed better in battle, although Robin reasoned that that might simply have been the result of physical rather than mental maturity. He was no longer spoke rashly, although his jokes hadn't gotten any better in terms of quality. There were some things that would never change. Beast Boy would always be Beast Boy.

Again, Raven sighed. She almost wished she hadn't promised him weeks ago that she would watch the sunset with him every evening on the roof of Titans Tower. But she knew that it was a tradition now, and that no matter what excuses she made beforehand, she cherished their time together.

Quickly glancing out the window and noticing that the sun was nearing the horizon, Raven put down her book – a romance, as Beast Boy had been quick to note when he had once stolen it from her bookshelf – and transported herself to the rooftop in a sphere of black energy. Noticing Beast Boy standing near the western edge of the Tower, she walked over to him.

As she came and stood beside him, he slung his right arm over her shoulder protectively and possessively. She unconsciously laid her head on his shoulder. She would never grow tired of this sensation: watching the sun set, with the cool air blowing in her face, all while in Beast Boy's arms.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy remained uncharacteristically silent. He was bright enough to know that these sunsets were moments, and if Raven had taught him anything, it was that to ruin a moment was a horrible thing. Still, he couldn't help but grin and tighten his grip on Raven's shoulder as he took it all in.

"…Hey Rae?"

"Yes, Beast Boy?"

"Maybe it's just me, but you look beautiful tonight," he commented as nonchalantly as possible, keeping his gaze on the ocean.

Raven blushed. His compliments always made her feel weak in the knees. She hated this newfound vulnerability, yet it was exhilarating at the same time. She glanced up at his face, where she could see his fang glinting in the sunlight. "Beast Boy?"

He turned to her.

"I…" Raven found herself staring into his eyes.

But before she could finish, Beast Boy leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, lingering for a second before pulling back and smiling at her.

Suddenly, she realized what she saw in Beast Boy's eyes now, what had been there since the very beginning.

When Raven was with Beast Boy, eyes symbolized love.

Finis

* * *

Author's Notes: Part 1 – I am aware that these details concerning Raven's early life are probably not in line with the comics. I don't think it will matter much, unless you're a comic book rigorist. But if that's the case, why are you reading stories about the cartoon? Shoo.

Part 3 – Obviously, I own neither the Jetsons nor Sherlock Holmes. Also, edamame beans are green soybeans; soybeans are what they use to make tofu, which is of course Beast Boy's favorite food.

Part 4 – For the purposes of this story, this part was written under the assumption that Beast Boy and Raven are already in a stable relationship.

Anyways, the goal here was to weave the eye motif throughout the four parts of the story, but I felt like I underemphasized it towards the end. Still, I'm pretty happy about how this came out. This story has a somewhat darker and more serious tone than what I'm used to, so it was interesting to write.

I didn't want to make this a songfic, but I do want to say that part of the inspiration for this story came from the song "Green Eyes" by Coldplay. Its lyrics actually apply to Raven quite well. I'd recommend it to anybody who is fond of acoustic music (it's a calm guitar ballad).

Enough shameless band promotion, though. Reviews, comments, and constructive criticism are always greatly appreciated. Even if you don't review, I appreciate that you took the time to read this.


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